The following is a list of notable people who have been born or lived in Indianapolis, Indiana. Organized alphabetically by field of study and then by last name.
Actors
Abraham Benrubi (1969– ), actor, best known for ER and Parker Lewis Can't Lose Monte Blue (1887–1963), silent film/character actor Connie Booth (1944– ), actress, screenwriter Steve Burton (1970– ), television actor Joyce DeWitt (1949– ), actress, best known for Three's Company Cullen Douglas (1967– ), actor, producer, director, best known for Grey's Anatomy and Pure Genius Robert Emhardt (1914–1994), actor Mike Epps (1970– ), stand-up comedian, actor, producer, writer, rapper Frances Farmer (1913–1970), actress Rhett Fisher (1980– ), actor, best known for Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue Brendan Fraser (1968– ), film actor Ken Foree (1948– ), actor Vivica A. Fox (1964– ), actress Chase Infiniti (2000– ), actress Doug Jones (1960– ), actor Brook Kerr (1973– ), actress Priscilla Lawson (1914–1958), actress Marjorie Main (1890–1975), actress Steve McQueen (1930–1980), Academy Award-nominated actor Julie McWhirter (1947– ), actress Margo Moore (1931–2000), actress Dohn Norwood(1974– ) actor, Hell on Wheels Katy O'Brian (1989– ), actress Dayo Okeniyi (1988– ), film actor Jake Short (1997– ), actor Steve Talley (1981– ), television/film actor Harry von Zell (1906–1981), television/film actor and radio announcer, best known for The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show Clifton Webb (1889–1966), stage/film actor Sasheer Zamata (1986– ), comedian, actress, former cast member on Saturday Night Live
Artists Vija Celmins (1938– ), visual artist Don Gummer, artist John Wesley Hardrick (1891–1968), artist Ron McQueeney, photographer Wilhelmina Seegmiller (1866–1913), author, illustrator, art teacher Sheida Soleimani (1990–), contemporary artist, born in Indianapolis Jeremy Spencer, musician (1973– )
Athletes
Joe Amico (1995– ), soccer player Sarah Bacon (1996– ), Olympic diver George Bailey (1900–1940), IndyCar Series driver Jalen Brown (1995– ), soccer player Kevin Burns (1985– ), soccer player Donie Bush (1887–1972), Major League Baseball (MLB) player/manager Bryce Campbell (1994– ), plays for the United States national rugby union team Rodney Carney (1984– ), National Basketball Association (NBA) player Oscar Charleston (1896–1954), baseball player, member of Baseball Hall of Fame Mike Clark (1972– ), soccer player Josh Coan (1998– ), soccer player Mike Conley Jr. (1987– ), NBA player Hooks Dauss (1889–1963), MLB player Euphrasia Donnelly (1905–1963), swimmer, Olympic gold medalist (1924) Stu Douglass (1990– ), American-Israeli basketball player for the Israeli team Maccabi Ashdod Jack Doyle (1990– ), National Football League (NFL) tight end Daeshon Francis (born 1996), basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League Jeff George (1967– ), NFL quarterback Eric Gordon (1988– ), NBA player Greg Graham (1970– ), NBA player Marcellus Greene (1957– ), NFL player Gordon Hayward (1990– ), NBA player Alan Henderson (1972– ), NBA player John F. Hennessey (1900–1981), tennis player (1920s) Oral Hildebrand (1907–1977), MLB All-Star pitcher George Hill (1986– ), NBA player Cole Hocker (2001– ), distance runner, Olympian Lauren Holiday (1987– ), US Women's National Soccer player, Olympic gold medalist, 2015 Women's World Cup champion Lester Horton (1906–1953), dancer and choreographer Tommy Hunter (1986– ), Major League baseball pitcher for Philadelphia Phillies Kenny Irwin (1969–2000), NASCAR driver Jack Johnson (1987– ) NHL player Mathias Kiwanuka (1983– ), NFL player Ken Klee (1971– ), National Hockey League (NHL) player Chuck Klein (1904–1958), MLB player Kyle Krisiloff (1986– ), NASCAR driver Shawn Langdon (2007– ), NHRA funny car driver 2013; Top Fuel Champion; 2-time Super Comp Champion Brad Leaf (1960–), American-Israeli basketball player for Hapoel Galil Elyon and Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israel Premier League Courtney Lee (1985– ), NBA player Don Leppert (1931– ), MLB player Lori Lindsey (1980– ), U.S. Women's National Soccer player, Olympic gold medalist Maicel Malone-Wallace (1969– ), sprinter, Olympic gold medalist (1996) Zack Martin (1990– ), NFL player George McGinnis (1950– ), NBA player Frank McKinney (1938–1992), diver, Olympic gold medalist (1960), banking executive Terry McLaurin Ohio State Buckeyes and Washington Redskins wide receiver Eric Montross (1971– ), NBA player Logan Neidlinger (2005– ), soccer player Greg Oden (1988– ), NBA player Jaycie Phelps (1979– ), gymnast, Olympic gold medalist (1996), Magnificent Seven team member Austin Price (born 1995), basketball player in the Israeli Premier Basketball League Derrick Ransom (1976– ), National Football League (NFL) player defensive tackle Matt Reiswerg (born 1980), soccer player, coach, and administrator Zion Richardson (2001– ), basketball player Oscar Robertson (1938– ), basketball player, member of Basketball Hall of Fame Sally Schantz, figure skater, U.S. ice dancing champion (1963) Judy Schwomeyer (1950– ), figure skater, U.S. ice dancing champion (1968–1972) Sandra Spuzich (1937–2015), LPGA pro golfer Brad Stevens (1976– ), President of Basketball Operations and former head coach of the Boston Celtics Major Taylor (1878–1932), cyclist Jeff Teague (1988– ), NBA player Johnny Weaver (1935–2008), pro wrestler, first to use the sleeper hold "Weaver Lock" Randy Wittman (1959– ), NBA head coach Greg Wojciechowski (1951– ), wrestler Sean Woods (1970– ), college basketball coach T. J. Yates (1987–), former quarterback; wide receivers coach for the Atlanta Falcons
Business and philanthropy
Steve Bellamy, sports media entrepreneur, founder of The Ski Channel and The Tennis Channel Steve Ells, founder, CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill Scott Flanders, businessman and former CEO of Playboy, Inc. John Geisse, businessman, founder of Target Stores Bob Glenalvin, first manager of Detroit Tigers Sid Grauman, founder of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, former home of the Academy Awards Scott A. Jones, co-founder of ChaCha Eli Lilly, founder, president of pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company Josiah K. Lilly Sr., president of pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company Ruth Lilly, philanthropist Kim Ng, Major League Baseball executive Ewald Over, entrepreneur Freeman Ransom, lawyer, businessman, civic leader Willard Ransom, lawyer, businessman, civic leader Henry J. Richardson Jr., lawyer and civil rights activist, member of the Indiana House of Representatives (1932–36), and a judge in Marion County, Indiana. Madam C.J. Walker, pioneering African-American businesswoman, first female self-made millionaire in America Margaret Ray Wickens (1843–1918), organizer and social reformer
Criminals
Howard Allen, serial killer Herb Baumeister, suspected serial killer Melvin Carr, murderer, rapist, and suspected serial killer John Dillinger, bank robber Cecil Henry Floyd, serial killer Jared Fogle, Subway restaurant endorser, motivational speaker, and convicted child pornographer Jim Jones, cult leader and mass murderer who led the Peoples Temple between 1955 and 1978
Entertainment
Rupert Boneham, reality show contestant, Survivor: Pearl Islands, Survivor: All-Stars, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, Survivor: Blood vs. Water; politician June Cochran, model, Miss Indiana USA 1960, Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Year 1963 Ken Hixon, screenwriter David Letterman, television personality, former host of The Late Show (1993–2015) Ryan Murphy, film and television screenwriter, director, and producer, notably Nip/Tuck, American Horror Story and Glee Blair St. Clair (Andrew Bryson), drag performer Marc Summers, game show host, television personality Dan Wakefield, screenwriter, novelist Marjorie Wallace, Miss World 1973
Journalists and media Roy Blount Jr., journalist, author Scott Evans, television personality Louis McHenry Howe, reporter for the New York Herald; political advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt Jack Olsen, journalist and author Jane Pauley, television personality, journalist Myrta Pulliam, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
Military Timothy Maude, U.S. Army lieutenant general, the highest-ranking military officer killed in the September 11 attacks Thomas A. Morris, railroad executive, civil engineer, Union general in the Civil War Norris W. Overton, U.S. Air Force brigadier general Raymond A. Spruance, commander of the U.S. Fifth Fleet (1944–1945)
Musicians
Mark Battles, rapper-songwriter, founder of record label Fly America Scrapper Blackwell, blues musician and songwriter, writer of the earliest version of "Sweet Home Chicago" Carl Broemel, multi-instrumentalist, member of My Morning Jacket Darrell Clanton, singer Dorian, hip-hop recording artist and music producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, R&B music producer/performer Guitar Pete Franklin, blues musician Jan Garber, bandleader Blind Leroy Garnett, boogie-woogie and ragtime pianist and songwriter Thurston Harris, singer, songwriter Billy Henderson, singer, member of The Spinners John Hiatt, musician Freddie Hubbard, jazz trumpeter J. J. Johnson, jazz trombonist Josh Kaufman, singer-songwriter, contestant on The Voice (U.S. Season 6) Adam Lambert, singer, runner-up of American Idol (Season 8) Adrianne Lenker, musician, singer songwriter of the indie band Big Thief Ted Leo, musician Charles Scott Leonard, member of the a cappella group Rockapella Lily & Madeleine, folk duo Margot & the Nuclear So and So's, indie rock band formed in Indianapolis Tim McIlrath, musician Wes Montgomery, jazz guitarist Plumb, singer/songwriter Hal Rayle, voice artist Larry Ridley, jazz bassist David Michael Schuster, opera singer George Shirley, operatic tenor Noble Sissle, composer Tiara Thomas, singer-songwriter Albert Von Tilzer, composer, notably "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" Pharez Whitted, jazz trumpeter Keke Wyatt, R&B singer
Politicians
James Bingham, Indiana attorney general (1907–1911) Maria Cantwell, U.S. senator from Washington Paul Cantwell, Indiana state representative André Carson, member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Indiana, second Muslim to be elected to the U.S. Congress (2008) Julia Carson, member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Indiana; grandmother of André Carson Harriette Bailey Conn, state representative and the first African American to serve as Indiana's state public defender Ray Crowe, basketball coach and politician John J. Dillon, Indiana attorney general (1965–1969) Charles W. Fairbanks, 26th vice president of the United States (1905–1909) William T. Francis, U.S. ambassador to Liberia (1927–1929) Benjamin Harrison, 23rd president of the United States (1889–1893); lived and died in Indianapolis Thomas A. Hendricks, 21st vice president of the United States (1863–1869) Eric Holcomb, governor of Indiana William A. Ketcham, Indiana attorney general (1894–1898), commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic (1920–1921) Jon Krahulik, justice of the Indiana Supreme Court (1990–1993) Daisy Riley Lloyd, first African-American woman to serve in the Indiana legislature Richard Lugar, U.S. senator from Indiana Frank E. McKinney, Democratic Party chairman Mike Pence, 48th vice president of the United States (2017–2021) Dan Quayle, 44th vice president of the United States (1989–1993) Mike Quigley, U.S. representative for Illinois Charles Ray, justice of the Indiana Supreme Court (1865–1871) Jefferson Shreve, U.S. representative for Indiana Pat Spearman, politician, cleric, veteran Edwin K. Steers, Indiana attorney general (1953–1965) Ted Stevens, U.S. senator from Alaska Mark Warner, U.S. senator from Virginia
Writers
Georgia Alexander (1868–1928), textbook author and educator Grace Alexander (1872–1951), writer, journalist, teacher Margaret C. Anderson, critic, editor and publisher